The area we now know as Tajikistan was once at the eastern periphery of the Persian Empire. Situated a bit south of the Silk Road trails, the area has seen invasions by Alexander the Great, Mongols, Arabs, Turks, and Russians. Today, Tajikistan, with a population of 7million, is bordered to the east by China, to the north by Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan, and to the south by Afghanistan.

Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Dushanbe {doo-shan-bay'} is the capital of Tajikistan. The name, meaning "Monday," is derived from the day of the week on which a bazaar was held in the village on the site. The original village of Dushanbe was chosen in 1924 as the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the USSR. In 1929 it became capital of the Tajik SSR and was renamed Stalinabad. In 1961, during the de-Stalinization period, the city reassumed its original name. With the dissolution of the Tajik SSR in 1991, it became the capital of an independent Tajikistan.

Land and Resources
93 percent of Tajikistan's territory is mountainous, and almost half of the republic lies at an elevation greater than 9000 ft. The Pamir Mountain Range in east-ern Tajikistan contains the highest mountain in the former USSR, at 7498 m (24,599 ft). Great contrasts in temperature exist between alpine and lowland areas. While the average daily temperature in July is greater than 31° C (87.8° F) in the valleys, it is less than 10° C (50° F) in the mountains. Wildlife is extremely varied and includes the endangered snow leopard as well as numerous varieties of mountain goat and sheep, including the Siberian horned goat and the rare markhor.